A Life Once Lived
by Dawn of Glory
Summary: Eris Toran awakens on The Surgeon of Death's ship to find she can't remember anything besides her name. Who is she? Where is she from? Eris, alongside Law and his Crew, sets out on a journey to find answers and to make her captain Pirate King.
1. Waking Moment

The darkness swallowed her whole, leaving her abandoned in a sightless void. Her head ached with a terrible pounding sensation, like someone was beating it with a metal pole. She had a dull notion that if the darkness went away, so would the pain, so she focused on creating light. Unfortunately, that wasn't going to happen; she had no idea how to illuminate the pressing darkness.

Her head began to throb painfully, and the darkness pulsated with an angry red light. She wanted to scream, just to let out the pressure that was building in her skull, but the void that surrounded her allowed for nothing, not even sound. As her panic set in, the throbbing grew stronger and more painful and the angry red pulsation grew more and more violent until, finally, everything exploded into fragments of burning white light.

Or at least, that's how it felt.

In reality, her eyes snapped open and she sat bolt upright in what looked like a hospital bed, causing a sharp tugging sensation on her left arm. Looking down, she saw something strange and blue connecting her arm to a bag filled with an odd liquid. Alarmed, she tugged on the strange blue thing, trying to separate it from her veins. Before she actually succeeded, a voice came from her other side.

"Miss, that IV is the only reason you're still alive. Please don't pull it out."

She stopped yanking on the 'IV' and turned her attention to the origin of the voice. The speaker was a tired-looking, average-sized male wearing a toboggan and a black and yellow hoodie, sitting in a reclining office chair.

"Where am I?" she asked warily. "Who are you?"

The man leaned back in his chair lazily and thought a bit before answering.

"Well, specifically you're in the sick bay of the -Holly Dodger-, the Heart Pirates' ship."

He sighed a little, then spun his chair to face the desk in front of him.

"Miss, could I have your name? I need to take some records."

She shook her head, and reached her left arm surreptitiously into empty space. Flicking her wrist, she pulled a small kunai knife from out of thin air and threw it at the wall next to the man's head.

"_Your_ name." she said simply.

The man raised an eyebrow as the knife sunk deeply into the wall. He spun around to face her, still with one eyebrow raised.

"Ingrate. I save your life, and you throw knives at me. I'm almost hurt." he replied sarcastically, glancing her over.

"If you really _must _know, I am Trafalgar Law, 'Surgeon of Death,' captain and doctor of the Heart Pirates. There, you know my name. Now miss, I really need to take these records, if I could have your name..."

She let her left arm relax from its stiffened and ready position, thinking. To be honest, she didn't quite remember what her name was, except for a few half-remembered syllables.

"Eris... I think." she answered, feeling like she was forgetting something crucial.

Law raised his eyebrow again.

"You think?" he repeated, and Eris nodded tautly. He nodded and scribbled her assumed name on a piece of paper.

"Amnesia, looks like. Not surprising, really, considering the major concussion you suffered." he mumbled to himself, still writing on the piece of paper. Eris stared intently at him, trying to deduce his intentions.

"When you've... fixed me, what are you going to do with me?" Eris asked hesitantly, keeping her eyes fixed on the back of his head.

He didn't even look up as he answered.

"Well, it'd be a waste to throw someone I so carefully healed overboard, so we'll probably drop you off at the next island. That said, we _are _in the Grand Line. You probably wouldn't be able to get back home, even if you somehow managed to get a ship." Law leaned back in his chair, glancing at Eris's blanched and expressionless face.

"Don't look so scared, Eris-_ya_. There's one more option..." he continued, and Eris's hands relaxed around the bedsheets they had been so tightly gripping.

"If you don't like the prospect of being left alone in the Grand Line, you could always join my crew. That ability, pulling knives out of thin air or whatever, could come in handy."

He gripped the handle of the kunai that had been embedded into the wall and pulled out, tossing it back to her in one fluid motion. Eris caught it expertly with her right hand and drew a small line in space with her pointer finger. She then tossed the knife into the hole she had made and 'zipped' it by moving her pinky finger up the line in space.

"I'll think about it..." she muttered uncomfortably, though she already knew what her answer was going to be. Who would want to be left alone in the Grand Line?

**A/N: Currently, there is no official name for the Heart Pirates' ship, so I came up with a temporary one. If Oda decides to name it, I will change the name of the Holly Dodger.**  
><strong>Anyways, as always, reviews and constructive criticism are always appreciated. ;)<strong>


	2. That Fox Woman

"Clothes." Eris said, glancing down at her hospital gown.

Law looked up from his notes and glanced at her curiously.

"What?" He asked. Eris stared straight at him, then looked back down at her paper dress.

Sighing, she elaborated.

"I need clothes. I don't want to walk around in a paper dress." Law nodded and got up from his chair, heading towards the door. Turning to Eris, he smiled slightly.

"We'll give you some money for clothes at the next island, but for right now you'll have to make do with hand-me-downs." Eris nodded, unconcerned with the fact that she'd probably be wearing men's clothing for the next few weeks.

Law stuck his head out of the door.

"Oi! Faris!" He called, and soon a loud, female voice answered him.

"What, Law? I'm teaching Pen-chan how to cook!" Faris replied harshly. Her loud and powerful voice startled Eris.

"We need some clothes for our patient," he responded, "Would you give her some?" There was an audible sigh before she answered.

"Alright, just give me a minute to beat this one last lesson into Pen-_chan_." She answered, and then Eris winced as a loud _clang_ echoed through the hallway. Law rolled his eyes, then walked back over to his desk and sat down.

"Who?" Eris asked, glancing through the doorway and then back at Law.

"Faris. She's our cook, and she serves as our sniper when we need her to. She's pretty pushy and overbearing, but you'll get used to her." he answered simply.

Eris was about to reply when a blonde, busty woman with two fox ears sticking out from the top of her curly-haired head burst rudely into the room.

"Heya, sweetie~" she cooed, ignoring Law completely. "You're new? What's your name, sweet heart? Tell Faris everything, okay?" Faris rushed over to Eris's side, and Eris found that she was completely overwhelmed by her presence.

"...Eris." She muttered, avoiding making eye contact with Faris.

Noticing this, Faris enveloped Eris in a huge bear hug.

"Come on, sweetie! I don't bite!" She laughed, squeezing Eris tightly. "Come here, we'll get you something nice to wear." She started to pull Eris away towards the door, but Law cut in.

"No, she can't leave yet... IV, remember?" he sighed, pointing towards the clear bag. Faris pouted at this statement.

"Laaaawwww-_chaaaan_! You're such a killjoy!" she wailed, clinging stubbornly to Eris.

"Yes, yes, I know." Law replied nonchalantly, causing Faris to pout even more.

Eris pushed free of Faris's grip and backed away quickly.

"Um, how long...?" she asked, looking at the IV in her arm, then to Law.

"Three more days at least." Law answered, correctly interpreting Eris's half-formed question. "After that, we'll put you on a trial run to see how you do with some of the menial chores and milder training." Eris nodded, but then another worry sprang up in her mind.

"What would I do?" she asked, fearing three days of utter boredom. Law smiled slightly at her apprehensive voice.

"I take it that you are a woman of action, Eris-_ya. _In the next three days we will be attempting to regain your memories, and it's not exactly easy work. It's a gruel-" He began to reassure her, but Faris cut him off.

"All that comes second! First, Eris-_chan_, you need some sexy clothes! Let me go get some while you and Law-_chan_ have a nice chat, okay?" With that, she rushed out of the room, leaving Eris at a loss for words.

"Is she always so..." Eris started, but her voice trailed off when she realized she didn't quite know how to described Faris.

"Energetic?" Law finished for her, nodding. "She can be pretty violent too, so watch out for her when she's in a bad mood." Eris sighed and flopped backwards into the bed, already exhausted.

"Tired, eh?" Law asked. Eris nodded and Law's eyes seemed to soften a bit. "Well, I'll let you take a short nap. I'll have to wake you up in about two hours though; when you get a concussion as bad as yours, slipping into a coma and dying is always a risk." Law let this last bit sink in before he continued.

"Anyways, I'll fend off Faris. You've still got a lot of healing to do before you're ready for extended periods alone with that fox woman." Eris nodded again and curled up into a ball. She closed her eyes, and she was asleep before the Surgeon of Death left the room.

"Sleep well, Eris-_ya."_ he murmured, closing the door softly behind him.


	3. Blood and Fire

_Eris dreamed of fire._

_It was everywhere. It consumed everything around her, scarlet sparks leaping at her back. _

_But this was not why Eris was scared. Eris ran not from the fire, but from the thing she knew was following her, matching her every step. She could hear it breathing in as she breathed out, hear its foot fall every time she brought hers up, hear it licking its lips in anticipation of another successful hunt. Eris's heart skipped a beat as she imagined just what the thing behind her would do when it caught up to her. It would catch up, there was no doubt about that._

_Eris glanced behind her to see where it was, and it proved to be a bad mistake. Her ankle twisted beneath her and she fell, hitting the ground with a horrible splash. The ground wasn't so solid anymore. Confused, she looked down into the ocean of horribly red water and realized that it wasn't water; water isn't so thick, doesn't look so red, doesn't feel so sticky... Eris tried to stand, tried to flee but her ankle couldn't support her and she collapsed; what small hope she had was fading into terror._

_That was when she saw the shadow. It blotted out the flickering light of the fire all around her, plunging her into darkness. She looked up slowly, fearing the sight she would behold._

_All she could see was its face. Illuminated by an eerie blue light,the monster that had chased her throughout the blood and fire wore Eris's own face._

_ "Surprise... I'm you." it whispered. Eris screamed._

She screamed even as she realized it was a dream, even as she knew that she was safe and that she was _not _a monster and that her surroundings were not burning or bloody. She screamed even as a whole team of people rushed into her room, each of them assuring her that it was okay, it was just a dream. She fought furiously as they attempted to check her pulse and temperature.

Eventually, her voice gave out, but she held it open wide in a futile attempt to continue with her screams. Eris raged against the people around her, punching and kicking anyone that came into contact with her. She beat back everyone that held her down, anything that so much as _touched_ her was given a nice shiny black eye to nurse.

"Faris! Someone get Faris!" she heard someone call, cutting through her confusion like a knife. The door burst open and the team of doctors parted like the Red Sea before Moses, forming a pathway to a still punching and kicking Eris. She braced herself for more physical resistance, but to her surprise, the Moses instead enveloped her in a warm, tight hug.

"It's alright, sweetie. Everything will be okay. I know you're scared, honey, but we gotta take care of you, okay?" Faris whispered soothingly. Eris's eyes opened wide and began to swim with tears. She cried silently, sobbing into Faris's shoulder. The rest was a blur for her, indistinct shapes speaking incomprehensible, indistinct words that somehow corresponded to the many pokes and prods that Eris suffered through simply because Faris was there. In fact, the only thing that was real to Eris was Faris's clear, warm figure.

Eris clung tightly to Faris even as the jabs ended. She was still too weak and shaken, still too scared to be alone.

"Eris, sweetie, I need to finish dinner..." Faris said gently, trying to pull her off. Eris bit her lip to keep herself from screaming out. Instead, she buried her head deeper into Faris's waist and gripped her shirt tighter.

"Oh sweetie!" Faris muttered, exasperated. "Come on, you can watch me cook." Eris shook her head and moved her IV arm.

"Law-_san_ said no..." she muttered, her voice barely audible.

"Feh! Law-_chan_ is too cautious. Besides, keeping you a cutie like you cooped up in a sickroom is stressful for you and an injustice to the rest of the crew." Faris grumbled.

"But... the dress..." Eris mumbled, but her grip around Faris was loosening little by little.

Faris raised an eyebrow. "Sweetie, do you wanna stay shut up in here?" she said, and Eris shook her head vigorously. Faris nodded in approval, then reached over and yanked the IV out of Eris's arm. Eris didn't even flinch, even though the force of the yank flecked blood onto her face.

"Oh, damn. That was too rough." Faris murmured, then glanced back at Eris. "What, didn't that hurt?" She asked curiously. Eris shook her head and shrugged. Faris glanced sideways at her, then pulled her to her feet.

"Can you walk right, honey?" Faris asked, letting Eris take a few stumbling steps before swooping in to support her. "I guess one week in a coma would cause some atrophy..." Eris froze.

"One week?" she exclaimed. Well, that explained how ridiculously weak she felt. Faris nodded.

"Yeah, didn't Law-_chan_ tell you what happened?" she asked. "No, of course he didn't, he only tells you the stuff that'll scare you into behaving..." she sighed heavily. "...leaving me to give you all the depressing information." Eris looked at her curiously as she shuffled, still supported by Faris, across the room.

"Well, you see honey, the very first island we came to when we hit the Grand Line was totally destroyed. We could see fires flickering even when we were still several miles from land, but when we got to the shore, the bodies we saw must've been several months old. Meaning, there were still fires raging months after the initial massacre. Law ordered us to search for survivors, but even after we spent days scouring the entirety of the island, we didn't find anything. Not even a mouse. Even the forests were gone." Faris bit her lip, her fist tightening around Eris's shirt. She gave herself one moment before she continued, but her voice shook all the same.

"After the log pose set, we lifted anchor and headed off to the next island. We hadn't gotten far before we came across a broken raft with two people on it. One was you, obviously; the other we think must've been your mother. You were out cold, but your mother was very awake. Bepo grabbed a lifesaver and jumped in to save both of you. He reached for your mother first, but she just grabbed you and pushed you to Bepo. By the time he finished getting you secured, your mom was gone."

Eris didn't say anything. She was moved, of course, but she didn't remember her mother, or her island, or anyone who lived there. She _couldn't _remember them. No matter how hard she tried, all she could see was fire. She wanted to swear.

"Damn it!" she swore. She could feel the burning in her eyes that meant she was about to cry. She cursed again, trying to keep her tears of frustration back. Faris glanced down at Eris's reddening eyes.

"Honey, why don't you ride on my back? It'll be faster that way." Faris asked. Eris nodded and climbed up onto her back. Eris buried her head in Faris's shoulder, letting her tears flow. Faris walked as gently as possible into the kitchen, where dinner was being managed by a man with a large, penguin-shaped hat that covered his eyes and hid his hair.

"Oi, Pen-_chan_!" Faris called, and the man looked up, revealing a stamp reading "PENGUIN" on the top of his hat.

"I haven't burned anything, Faris!" he answered, without waiting for Faris to continue.

"Of course you haven't! I taught you better than that! Come meet the new girl, she just woke up." Eris dried her eyes quickly and asked Faris to put her down. Faris obliged, but Eris had to put a hand against the wall to stand. 'Pen-_chan_' wiped his hands on a towel and stretched it out to Eris.

"Nice to meet you, mysterious patient. I'm Penguin." Eris resisted the urge to say she had guessed and took his hand.

"Eris." she said simply. "Wait wait, weren't you...?" she began her question before trailing off. She thought it would be awkward to ask if he had been one of the people she punched in the eye.

Faris looked down at her and struggled to interpret her question.

"There were only three doctors in there while you were... delusional, sweetie. You might not have been able to tell, though. You were pretty freaked out." She answered. Eris cocked her head to one side. True, the details were foggy. But Eris _swore_ that there had been at least six people in that room with her.

"I thought-" she began, but was cut off by a sharp noise from behind her.

"Why are you out of bed?" Eris turned abruptly at the sound, reaching into her little pocket of space for a knife. Just as her hand closed around the hilt of her favorite weapon, her brain recognized the yellow hoodie and her muscles relaxed.

Unfortunately, this meant that the adrenaline that was keeping her upright dissipated. She fell right into the arms of a scowling Law.

"Why did you leave the sickroom? Why isn't your IV attached? Didn't I tell you not to take that out?" he berated her, his scowl growing larger. Eris, feeling that she shouldn't look up at Law while he attacked her, attempted to push herself out of his arms.

It didn't really help that much. She found that even as she stood as straight as could, he was still a good four inches taller than she was.

"Don't push yourself, Eris-_ya._" he warned her, and sure enough, she found herself falling backwards.

"Whoopsie daisy," Faris said as Eris collapsed into her arms. "Sweetie, you do have a tendency for falling, don't you?"

"Only because _someone_ took her out before she was ready." Law growled, directing his tirade at Faris. Faris winced slightly, then pushed Eris upright and out of the way.

"Well, Mr. 'I'm-Always-Right,' since you were _there_ when she was screaming her head off, I thought maybe you would've considered Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder as a possible side effect from the fact that she was obviously involved in a _massacre._ I highly doubt being cooped up in a small room like that would be particularly beneficial to her mental health." Faris snapped, jabbing Law's chest with her index finger.

"I'll concede that point." Law said grudgingly as Faris smirked at her victory. "But tell me, Faris, why on _earth_ didn't you just take the IV pole with you?"

Faris's smug smile slid from her face.

"I... I didn't think of that." She said, absolutely flabbergasted.

"Jesus." Law sighed, and reached around Faris to grasp Eris by the shoulder. "You, Eris-_ya_, are going back to sickbay." He looked back to Faris before he spoke again. "You, Faris, are going to go back to the girl's quarters and get your least provocative outfit for Eris." He then took Eris and steered her gently down the hallway and back into the sickroom.

"Eris-_ya_, I know that you will be bored while the rest of us are busy," he began, dabbing at her forearm with a local anesthesia. "Get used to it." he finished curtly, reinserting the IV with a sharp poke. "So just stay in here until I say you can leave, alright?" Eris nodded, then looked to the door expectantly.

"If you're looking for that fox woman, she'll be a few minutes. Her wardrobe consists of things you'd find in a stripper bar and things you'd find in a dirty magazine. She'll most likely have to grab some of Fu's clothes." Law said, rolling his eyes at Faris's choice in clothing.

Eris sat back in her bed disappointedly, closing her eyes to wait for Faris's arrival.

**A/N: Yeah. Hi. Wow, it's been a while. I am SOOO sorry about the wait; life has been dropping bombs and such and yeah, I have no good excuse. **

**...I love all who review, and also it WILL NOT BE another five months before I update again, I promise :D  
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